Kent Bush: How many 'sinners' are we allowed to refuse service?

Thursday

Feb 27, 2014 at 7:15 AM

I did not find the Second Amendment in Genesis

Kent Bush

Voting for Republicans will not get you into Heaven.

I reread the first book of the Bible today and I did not find the Second Amendment in Genesis. Surprisingly enough, Jesus had little to say about free market capitalism although he did anger many fishermen and bakers when he kept multiplying fish and loaves to feed thousands of people.

Was that the first welfare system? I guess doctrinally, we will leave that claim as “plausible.”

I got a less than pleasant email from a preacher this week after I insinuated that just because the Daily Show and multiple real news outlets across the country had mocked Kansas for many pieces of legislation that somehow that meant the state was becoming a laughing stock.

This preacher, and all of those who listen to his weekly radio program, don’t believe the rest of America is laughing at Kansas. It is just those angry liberal progressives who are laughing at the state.

His perception is that the vast majority of Americans are looking to Kansas for leadership.

I know you want to know who the good pastor is who spews venom in emails while signing off telling the reader he just told off to “have a blessed day.” But when pastors bill their radio program as being hosted by “controversial pastors…” I am not inclined to give them more of the publicity they desperately seek.

I quoted John 8 as a great example of what grace I thought Jesus might show to a gay person. The good Pastor, who has apparently never read Matthew 23:27, said that Jesus went on to tell sinners to be saved and sin no more. That’s true.

But I don’t think 29-year old Jesus, one year from beginning His ministry on earth, would have declined to build a table for a gay couple if they came to his carpenter shop.

I would imagine, instead, that He would have built them the best table ever made and through an interaction with Jesus the carpenter, their lives might have been changed for the better.

In John 8, Jesus told the Pharisees that he was the light of the world (John 8:12). But surprisingly enough, in Matthew 5:14, Jesus told His followers they were the light of the world. He continued with this thought, “ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

You know, good deeds like calling people names and discriminating against them in your business. Maybe those aren’t the kinds of good deeds Jesus was talking about.

I think sometimes as Christians we forget that we are to be a reflection of Jesus.

Sure, Jesus was no sissy. He overturned the moneychangers’ tables in the temples when their actions were impure. But usually Jesus’ frustration was saved for the “whitewashed tombs” who followed Him around trying to trip Him up with their false piety.

To me it is pretty simple. If a hospital turned away all seriously ill patients, it would go out of business. If a gym was only open to the super fit, their business would be decimated.

In the same way that overweight and out of shape people should have a gym membership and sick people should be welcome in hospitals, the church needs to stop spreading its message in such a way to drive away sinners.

It isn’t about tolerance.

It is about loving others and understanding that all sin is wrong. Discriminating against gay people and welcoming adulterers and divorced people makes no sense.

How many sinners are we allowed to refuse service? Can I refuse to make a cake for a liar’s birthday party?

Codifying bigotry does not affect its moral repugnance.

Christianity has a problem. The product is great. It just needs a new marketing department.

Despite the fact that the Conservative Political Action Conference has barred the American Atheists from having a booth at this year’s gathering, all conservatives are not Christians and all Christians are not conservative.

Ignorance forces people to try to make every issue resolve into simple black and white logic and that is almost never the case.

We were called to love our neighbor as ourselves. Not our straight neighbors, or non-alcoholic neighbors, or honest neighbors. We were called to love everyone.

If you believe someone is living in sin, you should try to help him. It isn’t your job to judge or condemn.

We should light more candles and fewer fuses.

Kent Bush is the publisher of the Butler County Times Gazette and can be reached at: kbush@butlercountytimesgazette.com